Method and apparatus for producing a continuous tobacco rod



W. RICHTER May 12, 1964 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A CONTINUOUS TOBACCO ROD Filed April l,

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NAM H He l t 20. Fig 3 May 1 2, 1964 w. RICHTER 3,132,650

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A CONTINUOUS TOBACCO ROD Filed April l, 1960 A 2 SheetS-Sheel'I 2 INVENTOR. u? /f W Y United States Patent O Haunt-Werke Korber & Co. KAG., Hamburg-Bergedorf, i

Germany Filed Apr. 1, 1968, Ser. No. 19,205 Claims priority, application Germany Apr. 18, 1959 Ciams. (Ci. 13121) The invention relates to cigarette manufacture and particularly is directed to the production of a continuous tobacco rod intended to be formed into a continuous cigarette rod from which individual cigarettes can be cut.

Attempts have been made heretofore to produce cigarettes having a high measure of uniformity by subjecting a tobacco stream to a trimming operation so as to remove tobacco from the surface thereof whereby the stream leaving the trimming means is of uniform crosssection. In some cases, for example as in German Patent No. 497,464 and in British Patent No. 662,949, the tobacco removed from the surface of a stream is returned to the tobacco supply point. In the copending United States patent application Serial No. 862,3 86, filed on December 28, 1959, by Kurt Krber and Willy Richter, it has also been proposed to cause the tobacco removed from the surface of the stream to be added to a stream of tobacco supplied by a distributor. In arrangements of the former kind the tobacco is supplied by a distributor in excess of the quantity required to form the finished cigarettes while as described in said latter specification the distributor is operated in such a manner that precisely the quantity of tobacco is supplied whichis required to form the required cigarettes.'

In the production of a continuous cigarette rod provision must be made to allow cigarettes of different sizes to be produced and in general the distributor or feeder will therefore be adjustable to permit a greater or lesser quantity of tobacco to be supplied in unit time.

An object of the present invention is to provide means for adjustment of the size of the cigarettes in those procedures where trimming of the tobacco from the surface is performed.

In processes for producing a uniform stream of tobacco by trimming or levelling the surface, the effect achieved is that the quantity of tobacco separated from the stream of tobacco remains approximately constant. It is very important that this condition be maintained because this quantity must be determined empirically by complicated tests and if this quantity is altered it may no longer be possible to maintain the required uniformity. When the separated stream of tobacco is returned to the main stream and not to the distributor, the method according to the present invention may be employed with special advantage, because all the means used for feeding this separated stream of tobacco and returning the same to the main stream are designed for the predetermined and most favorable partial stream quantity. Thus, where as in the mentioned copending application Serial No. 862,3 86 the distributor is adjusted to supply the amount of tobacco required t0 form the finished cigarettes, it is essential that when cigarettes of different sizes are to be produced, the operation of the trimming means be adjusted so that always the same average amount of tobacco is removed from the surface of the stream Whatever the size of cigarettes which are being produced. The present invention is particularly, but not exclusivelly, applicable to machines operating in this indicated manner, since a similar adjustment is desirable when the tobacco removed from the surface of a stream of tobacco is returned to the distributor.

In accordance with the present invention control of l bacco.

3,132,650 Patented May 12., 1964 the means provided to supply the tobacco to the stream is effected automatically dependent upon the adjustment of stream trimming or levelling means.

Preferably, a stream of tobacco is supplied by a tobacco distributor and is subjected to a trimming or levelling operation so that the stream leaving the trimming point is of uniform cross-setcion and, to allow for variations in the desired dimensions of the outgoing tobacco stream, a coupled adjustment may be provided for varying the feed of tobacco from the distributor and for raising and lowering the trimming means so that the amount taken from the surface of the stream remains substantially constant Whatever the adjustment.

The feed of tobacco from the distributor is, however, preferably adjusted by the adjustment movement of the trimming means.

The apparatus according to the invention may include an adjustable tobacco distributor adapted to shower tobacco on a conveyor means by which the tobacco is formed into a stream in a channel-shaped guide Within which it is confined, a trimming means for removing some tobacco from the surface of the stream which is confined in said guide and for returning the tobacco removed from said surface to the stream of tobacco travelling in said guide towards the trimming point, means for raising and lowering the trimming means relatively to the channelshaped guide for regulating the amount of tobacco removed from the surface of the stream, and nally a servomotor means for simultaneously operating an adjustment member of the distributor to vary the amount of tobacco supplied to theconveyor means concomitantly with the adjustment of the trimming means so that substantially the same amount of tobacco is withdrawn from the surface of the stream whatever the adjustment of the trimming means.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated by Way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrative of the method of forma tobacco rod described in the mentioned copending application Serial No. 862,386,

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the control procedure of the invention,

FIG. 3 illustrates diagrammatically the cooperating control device arranged between the tobacco distributor and the adjustable trimming means,

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of an apparatus suitable for performing the method of forming a tobacco rod according to the invention, t

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the trimming and removing device according to line V-V in FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6kis a view of the device for transferring the trimmed off tobacco ontothe top surface of the tobacco stream produced by the tobacco distributor.

The FIGS. 1 and 4 illustrate diagrammatically a device for practicing one method of producing a stream of to- A tobacco distributor D showers tobacco upon a conveyor belt C moving in the direction of the arrow E. The tobacco is supplied at the required average rate and is transferred to a channel-shaped guide way formed by the circumferential groove 128 in a conveyor wheel 2 rotating in a vertical plane and is moved as a tobacco rod to a trimming point 3 (see also FIG. 5) at which point some tobacco is removed by an adjustable rotary cutter 8 mounted on a rotating shaft 8a. The rotary cutter 8 rotates in a plane (trimming plane) which is positioned substantially tangentially to the circumference ofthe wheel 2 at the trimming point 3 and this plane is changed upon an axial adjustment of the shaft 8a. The trimmed-off tobacco is transferred by a cooperating guide 129 from the top surface of the tobacco stream to form a secondary stream 5 which continues to travel in a spiked circumferential groove 130 provided on the conveyor wheel 2 sneaeeo (see also FIG. 6) to be deposited by a rotary brush 109 and a guide 108 onto the surface of the stream 1. The mentioned guides 108 and 129 and the rotary brush 109 are disclosed in the aforementioned application Serial No. 862,386. After entering the circumferential groove 123 of the conveyor wheel 2 the secondary tobacco stream or the so-called recirculating tobacco is on the bottom of said groove while the stream of tobacco is subjected to the trimming operation. The trimmed tobacco stream 7 leaves the upper portion of the wheel and is fed into a cigarette rod forming device. In this manner any irregularities above average thicknesses of the stream 1 are eliminated, and in effect the secondary or trimmed olf tobacco stream 5 when viewed in the direction of movement of the tobacco stream 1 is combined with the latter stream 1 in front of the trimming point 3 for the purposes of filling any depressions which may exist in the upper surface of the stream of tobacco l and which corresponds quantitatively substantially to the size of the equalized tobacco rod S, 7. As shown in FIG. l, the trimmed-oft tobacco stream 5 forms the lower portion of the tobacco rod formed by the two streams 5 and 7.

In FIG. 2 it will be seen that tobacco is showered by a distributor 9 constructed, for instance, as shown in U.S. Patent No. 2,237,033 on a conveyor belt 10. This belt conveys the tobacco in stream form through a conventional channel-shaped guide way known from continuous cigarette rod making machines. The average height Ha ofthe tobacco stream 1 in this guide way is increased by the tobacco forming the partial stream of tobacco 5 by lling any depressions in the stream, but this average height is restored by cutting off a quantity of tobacco which is equal to the quantity of the partial stream of tobacco. This cutting olf is performed for example by a rotory cutter 8 at the trimming point 3, so that a height He remains in rear of the trimming point 3 which height is identical to the height Ha which constitutes the effective height of the equalized rod 5, 7.

lf now a cigarette rod of a diierent size is required, for instance having a height He', then the discharge of the distributor 9 is adjusted for example by a suitable remote control system F to produce a tobacco stream of a-height Ha representing the new average amount. For the reasons explained the absolute amount of tobacco in the secondary tobacco stream must, however, remain constant as indicated at 5' in FIG. 2.

This result is secured by a simultaneous adjustment of the operative height of the trimming means 8 by a remote adjusting system. For simplicitys sake, however, it may be assumed that the trimming means Si is provided with a manual or an automatic adjusting device and the movement obtained in response to this adjustment is transferred to the input of a servo-motor device representing the remote control F, the control action of this control F being operative in a manner which adjusts the discharge of the distributor concomitantly with the trimming means 8 so that always a constant quantity of tobacco is maintained in the secondary stream 5 or 5 respectively.

The remote control system used may be one provided with an electrically operating follow-up system, which operates, for example, by means of two potentiometers disposed in a Wheatstone bridge, the adjusting relay being situated as a polarized relay in the diagonal of the bridge circuit. The polarized relay controls an adjusting motor V for varying the speed of the feeder drive A for the tobacco distributor.

An example of the control system which may be employed is illustrated in FIG. 3. The up and down adjustment of the trimming means A8, which may include a circular cutting disc rotating about a vertical axis, causes an operation of a gearing V11. `The drive for the cutting disc 8 is arranged in the casing 8a. There is provided a Wheatstone bridge i12 with'a polarized relay 13 and a gearing ld which operates a single phase adjusting motor 15 for operating the tobacco distributor 9. Each adjustprovided each with a fixed resistance 16 and 17, respectively, and two branches provided each with an adjustable resistance 1S and 19, respectively. The bridge voltage 20 is supplied to the two connecting points of the fixed and adjustable resistances which are arranged in series. The diagonal of the bridge has connected therein a polarized relay i3. The adjustable resistance 18 .consists of a conventional potentiometer whose adjustable contact arm 26 is rotated by the gearing l11. The adjustable resistance 19 constitutes a resetting potentiometer and is adjusted by the gearing 14 driven by the motor 15. The polarized relay 13 which isV provided with a movable center contact arm 21 connects, depending upon the direction of the current ilowing in the diagonal, the adjusting.

motor either in such a manner that the tobacco supply is increased or in such a manner that the tobacco supply is decreased and this is ydone by connecting the supply line 22 with the contacts 23 or 24.

When, for instance, the trimming means 8 is moved away from the tobacco stream then the gearing 11 rotates the movable Contact arm 26 of the potentiometer l18 in such a direction that in FIG. 3 the movement takes place in the direction of the arrow 27. =In this manner the resistance of the potentiometer `i8 is decreased and the voltage at the diagonal point 28 is increased. Therefore, there will ow an electric current in the direction of the arrow 29 in the diagonal and this causes an energization of the polarized relay 13 which will move the contact arm 21 in engagement with the contact 24. This results in an energization of the adjusting motor 15 which will now rotate in a direction to increase the amount of tobacco which will be discharged by the tobacco distributor 9. In this sense the motor 15 will adjust a stepless gearing of the tobacco distributor. At the same time the gearing 14 of the potentiometer 19 will be rotated and the contact arm 30 of the latter will be adjusted in the direction of the arrow 311 until the desired ratio between the resistance values of the potentiometers 18 and 19 with respect to the fixed resistances 16 and A17 has been obtained. When this is accomplished the voltages at the diagonal points 28 and 29 are alike and the polarized relay 13 is without any current so that the contact arm 2l will drop yfrom the contact 24 into its center position. When this takes places the adjusting motor :15 becomes deenergized and stops.

When the trimming means 3 is adjusted in the opposite direction, namely toward the tobacco stream, then the above described control is elected in a reverse manner.

What I claim is:

l. A method of producing a continuous tobacco rod which comprises feeding tobacco from a distributor to a tobacco conveyor means to form a tobacco stream. thereon, transferring the tobacco stream formed on said conveyor means into a channel-shaped guide way, trimming the surface of said stream while in said guide way by removing tobaeco therefrom, causing the tobacco removed `from said stream to be deposited upon the same stream of tobacco at a point spaced in advance where said trimming takes place, and adjusting the feed of tobacco from the distributor, to the conveyor means according to the level to which the trimming operation has been adjusted so that always a substantially constant amount of tobacco is trimmed otf from the tobacco stream.

2. Apparatus for producing a continuous tobacco rod of uniform properties, including an adjustable tobacco distributor adapted to shower tobacco on a conveyor means to form a tobacco stream thereon, a channelshaped guide Way into which the tobacco stream formed on the conveyor means is transferred by said conveyor means, trimming means for removing tobacco from the surface of the stream in said yguide Way, means for returning the tobacco removed from said surface to the stream of tobacco entering said guide way and moving towards said trimming means, adjustable means Afor raising and lowering the trimming means relatively to said channel- Y including the steps of forming a stream of tobacco upon a moving conveyor from a tobacco feed means, subjecting the top surface of said tobacco stream to a trimming operation by a trimming means in a trimming plane so `that the trimmed stream leaving the trimming point'is of uniforni cross section, and for the purpose of producing variations in the desired size of the outgoing trimmed tobacco stream, varying concomitantly by conjoined means t-he amount of tobacco from said feed and the level of the trimming plane of said trimming means with reference to the bottom surface of the trimmed tobacco stream.

of said tobacco stream on the conveyor to a trimmingV operation by a trimming means in a trimming plane so that the trimmed stream leaving the trimming point constitutes a tobacco rod of uniform cross section; and, for

the purpose of producing variations in the desired size of the tobacco rod, varying concomitantly the cross sectional area of the tobacco stream which is fed to said trimming point and the distance of the trimming plane from the bottom surface of the tobacco stream.

5. An apparatus Ifor producing a'continuous tobacco rod of uniform properties, comprising conveyor means dening a channel-shaped guideway; means for feeding tobacco into said guideway to form a tobacco stream which contains tobacco in excess of that required in the tobacco rod and which moves endwise with said conveyor means; trimming means adjacent to said guideway for removing excess tohacco from said tobacco stream and to thus transform said tobacco stream into a tobacco rod of uniform cross section; first adjusting means foradjusting said trimming means to vary the trimming level; second adjusting means for adjusting the cross sectional area lof the tobacco stream which moves toward said trimming means; and means for operating one of said adjusting means simultaneously with the other adjusting means.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A METHOD OF PRODUCTING A CONTINUOUS TOBACCO ROD WHICH COMPRISES FEEDING TOBACCO FROM A DISTRIBUTOR TO A TOBACCO CONVEYOR MEANS TO FORM A TOBACCO STREAM THEREON, TRANSFERRING THE TOBACCO STREAM FORMED ON SAID CONVEYOR MEANS INTO A CHANNEL-SHAPED GUIDE WAY, TRIMMING THE SURFACE OF SAID STREAM WHILE IN SAID GUIDE WAY BE REMOVING TOBACCO THEREFROM, CAUSING THE TOBACCO REMOVED FROM SAID STREAM TO BE DEPOSITED UPON THE SAME STREAM OF TOBACCO AT A POINT SPACED IN ADVANCE WHERE SAID TRIMMING TAKES PLACE, AND ADJUSTING THE FEED OF TOBACCO FROM THE DISTRIBUTOR TO THE CONVEYOR MEANS ACCORDING TO THE LEVEL TO WHICH THE TRIMMING OPERATION HAS BEEN ADJUSTED SO THAT ALWAYS A SUBSTANTIALLY CONSTANT AMOUNT OF TOBACCO IS TRIMMED OFF FROM THE TOBACCO STREAM. 